Pumpkin Cookies with Cream Cheese Frosting

These Pumpkin Cookies with Cream Cheese Frosting are a delightful treat every fall. They are loaded with pumpkin flavor, chewy soft, and drizzled with the most luscious cream cheese icing.

Prep Time: 15

Cook Time: 11

Total Time: 26

Servings: cookies

Ingredients

For the Cookies:

½ cup butter, melted
¼ cup light brown sugar, packed
½ cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
½ cup pumpkin puree
1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
¼ teaspoon table salt
¼ teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground ginger
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
¼ teaspoon ground cloves
¼ teaspoon allspice

For Cream Cheese Frosting

8 oz cream cheese, melted
3 tablespoons salted butter, melted
2 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon milk, see notes

Instructions

In a bowl, whisk the melted butter and both sugars together until completely smooth and incorporated. Whisk in vanilla and pumpkin until smooth. Set aside.
In a large bowl, hand-whisk together the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves, and allspice.
Using rubber spatula, fold together the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Don't over-mix; the dough will be very soft. Cover airtight and chill for at least 1 hour or overnight. Dough must be chilled to bake properly.
Preheat the oven to 350F degrees, with rack on lower middle position. Line large baking sheet with parchment paper.
Roll the dough into 1.5 tablespoon sized balls and place 2 inches apart on lined baking sheet. Slightly flatten the dough balls.
Bake the cookies for 9-11 minutes. Cookies may appear soft and under-baked. They will further set upon cooling. If they didn't spread out much, slightly flatten them a bit once out of oven. Allow cookies to cool completely.
Meanwhile, make the cream cheese icing by whisking all frosting ingredients in a bowl until well combined. Spread icing in an even layer over cooled cookies.

Notes

Use pure pumpkin puree, not pumpkin pie filling. The latter has added sugar and spices that will throw off the balance.
Melted butter makes for a chewier cookie with a soft center. Let it cool slightly before mixing with the sugars.
Be sure to chill the dough for at least an hour. This helps prevent the cookies from spreading too much while baking.
If using salted butter in cookie dough, reduce table salt to 1/8 teaspoon.
If frosting is too thin, add a touch more milk at a time, until it reaches desired consistency. If it's too thick, add a bit more powdered sugar until desired consistency is reached.
This recipe is part of our Pumpkin Recipes Collection.

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Nutrition (per serving)

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Diet: Vegetarian

Method: Bake